Novartis subsidiary AveXis plans to expand its gene therapy manufacturing capacity by agreeing to purchase AstraZeneca’s advanced biologics therapy manufacturing campus in Longmont, CO, for an undisclosed price.
AstraZeneca in January disclosed plans to close the Longmont facility, as well as another Colorado manufacturing site in Boulder, and lay off all 210 employees at both campuses, through a Worker Readjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) 60-day notice posted on a state website.
Instead, AveXis said yesterday, it plans to offer positions to all approximately 150 staffers previously employed in Longmont, and will announce plans “in the near term” to hire more employees there.
AveXis cited its plans to launch the gene therapy candidate Zolgensma® (onasemnogene abeparvovec-xioi), formerly AVXS-101, which is awaiting global regulatory approvals for the treatment of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) Type 1. The FDA has set a Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) target decision timeframe of May 2019.
